Search All 1 Records in Our Collections

The Museum’s Collections document the fate of Holocaust victims, survivors, rescuers, liberators, and others through artifacts, documents, photos, films, books, personal stories, and more. Search below to view digital records and find material that you can access at our library and at the Shapell Center.

Jeszaayahu (Szaja) Mejer Kawe (1918- ) was born to parents Efraim Fiszel Kawe (1886-) and Tauba Kovalski (1890-), and grew up in Kalisz, Poland, where his father had a tombstone business. He had five siblings: Ester Blima (1913-), Hersz Josef (1914-), Chana Chaja (1920-), Mojsze Lejbus (1922-), and Sura (1923-). He attended the Methivtha Yeshiva in Warsaw, studying to become a rabbi, but returned to Kalisz to assist his family financially.

In September 1939, Germany invaded Poland, and occupied Kalisz. Jeszaayahu tried to convince his family to leave with him for Vilna, where the Germans had not yet reached, but they believed that women and children would not be targeted, and the war would be short-lived. Jeszaayahu left on his own and established a tombstone business in Vilna. At first, he was able to maintain contact with his family, but soon they were deported to the Krakow Ghetto, and then transported to Plaszow. Jeszaayahu sent packages, but by the summer of 1940, he did not receive letters from them.

He remained in Vilna about a year, until the Germans entered the city in June 1941. He escaped to Russia and began to deal on the black market, but was eventually caught and sent to forced labor in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. He remained there for over three and a half years.

After the war ended he returned to Kalisz to find that he was the only member of his family to have survived. In Kalicz, he met and married Ester Gluba. Their son Henrik Zvi was born in 1948, and in 1950 they immigrated to Israel.

Learn about over 1,000 camps and ghettos in Volume I and II of this encyclopedia, which are available as a free PDF download. This reference provides text, photographs, charts, maps, and extensive indexes.